Sunday, September 23, 2007

When looking for a place to mellow out and write, I have found some amazing ones. These two are very close by. You probably have a place nearby that you've never really noticed before.

This little public beach on the Connecticut shoreline is generally overlooked and nicely quiet. Perfect for plunking down an unbrella and chair and cooler and start writing. I'd rather not name it as I'm sure you'll find one near you..

This is a view of the Mystic River from downtown Mystic, Connecticut, and a lovely place to go shopping and/or eat when you're taking a break from writing. And it's so inspirational.

The day we went to Mystic there was a storm off coast and it made for some very dramatic skies. My photo doesn't really do it justice.

This is my little cat Isis. She has the right idea. After a hard day writing and windowshopping, a nap is the perfect inspiration."Ta ta for now," I whispered. "I'm working on another book."

Monday, September 10, 2007

Today I finished cutting 60,000 words out of my 160,000 word novel and it was still wonderful, still made sense. If anything, it made the novel faster moving, sharper in detail, and more riveting. Now I finish my letter to the agent and it's off. Wow! I'll celebrate really when the letter is finished and the whole thing is sent off. It's like launching a new ship. You put all this love and attention and sweat into it, and now it's going out into the world seeing exotic places and meeting people.

I love it when my work meets people. Sometimes I get to meet them too. If ever you see me at a con, please, by all means just say, "Hi!" I had one gentleman that followed me around and around. I finally turned and said, "Hi," and he asked me to sign his book. No problem at all. I'm very easy to talk to at a con. Like I said--I love meeting people.

Now in addition to the letter, I have to archive and make more cd copies of all the version of my book. I keep copies on paper, cds, flash drive back up, and friends. I have a few trusted friends that keep versions of my book for me. It's important to keep all these copies. Yes, I know it's a bother. But at least you'll have them if you ever have to prove you wrote the book.

This is also going to help me with the next book, because I have one cd archive where I have each chapter as a separate file. You see some of the chapters didn't make it into this book, but they will make it into the next one in the series. The mind is a funny thing. Writers don't always get the book in chronological order, so a chapter archive is very handy indeed.